THE stark contrast in Britain’s unemployment divide is laid bare today as new figures reveal the level of jobless families is three times as high in the North than the South.

Almost one in three Glasgow families has no one in work, making it the UK’s unemployment capital. The Scottish city and Liverpool were in the top five workless areas for the ninth consecutive year. Hull, Birmingham and Wolverhampton come next.

The Office for National Statistics said that in 2012 Glasgow City had the highest percentage of workless households with 30.2 per cent where no one over 16 is in a job. And in Liverpool the figure was 28.7 per cent.

The most common reason given for not finding a job was sickness, the ONS said. Areas with the lowest levels were mostly in the South – Hampshire bottom at 10.6 per cent, followed by North Northamptonshire 11.2 per cent, Buckinghamshire 11.3 per cent, West Sussex 11.3 per cent and Surrey 11.4 per cent.

Nationally, the number of workless households has fallen by more than 425,000 since the Coalition took office

Employment Minister Mark Hoban

Overall 18.1 per cent of households had no adults aged 16 to 64 with a job, compared with 19.2 per cent when the Coalition came to power.

Employment Minister Mark Hoban said: “Nationally, the number of workless households has fallen by more than 425,000 since the Coalition took office. This is good news, but we know there are areas of the country where we need to do more.”